Live Again
by Katt of a Thousand Shadows
Summary: Lots of Angst. A song fic about what happens to boba after Geonosis. No flames please. I was a bit hyper when writing this...


Before I even begin with anything else, let me handle one thing. Yes I know this is not how it happened. Yes I have read the book that tells what happens to Boba after Geonosis. Yes I know this never happened. Now, can I move on? 

This is a short song fic. It is How Boba Feels after losing Jango. I refuse to acknowledge flames except with an entire chapter disproving you and putting you down. Constructive criticism, always. 

No, I don't own Star Wars *grumbles something in Huttese which would sky rocket the rating* but one day.....People do strange things when faced with angry, wet, house cats. The song is Dare You To Move by Switchfoot.

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Welcome to the planet  
Welcome to existence  
Everyone's here  
Everybody's watching you now  
Everybody waits for you now  
What happens next  


Boba sat in the middle of the arena, the helmet clutched tight to his chest. If he tried hard enough and hoped hard enough that it wasn't, then it couldn't be true. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to his father. The best, the strongest, _Jango Fett!_ Tears trickled down his dirt streaked face unheeded. He was too tired to care. 

__

He came out of this daze and let reality hit him. He stood and stared down at the visor. So cold. Even when his father had worn it, it had seemed somehow alive, to him, maybe even warm. But now it was all cold, dark, lifeless. He dropped it and watched as it rolled along the dirt floor. 

He turned his face to the stars and for a moment, everything stopped. A destiny was being forged on that blood soaked field. Those sorting through the bodies and picking up the dead stopped as he let out a scream of pain, sorrow, revenge, and hate. The terrifying mix could send chills up the spine and tears to the eyes all at once. Such raw emotions hurt all around. Some who didn't even know what had happened felt pity well in their stomachs and a tear to the eyes. 

What would he do? What could he do? a young boy, alone in the galaxy. I a galaxy so cold that he _could_ be left alone. If the Jedi were so good, why was his father dead and him alone. It was their fault. He would have revenge. 

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I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
Like today never happened  
Today never happened before

He began walking. The darkness of the arena closed in around him and gave him peace. For a moment, he could believe it was all a dream. he would wake up and walk to his father's room to see him there asleep. By mornings bright rays, or rain filled skies for Kamino, it would be only a memory for him. It had to be.

He walked through the tunnels to where the _Slave I _was docked. Finally something hit him. It had hit him before, but now it sunk in. His father was gone. He would pilot his ship alone. _His_ ship. It seemed foreboding. Dark and deadly sitting in the dock. The familiar laugh that had filled it would be gone. His father was gone. 

This was why he had only had Partners, never friends. Friends got you hurt. Partners were replaceable. He stepped onto the ship in that same grief filled daze that had gripped him on the battle field. 

He sat in the pilot's seat. He had sat there before, watching his over his shoulder to make sure Jango wasn't coming. He was never happy when Boba played at the controls. he would never have to look out again. It was his job now. He went through take-off procedures, acts he had watched his father perform so many times, and the ship lifted off the ground. he thought if he left, went back to Kamino, Jango would be waiting. He would run, hug him, and forget it ever happened. Things like this never happened in the stories he read. Things like this shouldn't happen.  


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Welcome to the fallout  
Welcome to resistance  
The tension is here  
Between who you are and you could be  
Between how it is and how it should be

The rain fell like usual, but no one was there to meet him. Only the bleak grey of the day stood sentinel. He walked in through the doors. Lama Su saw him walking softly through the halls. 

"Ah, master Boba, where is your father?"

"He-He's not coming back," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. 

"What happened?"

"He's just not coming back." He ran through the halls to where their room was. A weight sat on his shoulders. He was alone. He had never been alone. Not really. Jango as always just a com call away. Now, no manner of communication could get to him.

He could feel the tears coming back. They ashamed him, but he could do nothing. They dripped down his face and made their sparkling descent to the floor. He watched and wept. He let the memories flash. Everything in his life now seemed to be coming apart. Unraveling at the seams. His heart was screaming to him that it couldn't be, but his mind, already so cold and logical, said it must, it was. He didn't know what to do, so he sat and cried.

A soft knock came to the door. When he opened it, Lama Su was there with a package in hand. 

"Master Jango asked me to give this to you should anything ever happen."

Boba took the package and Lama Su left. He opened it and a data pad fell out. 

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Boba,

If you are reading this, something has happened. Everything you need to know is stored away, you just need to find it. Go to the Archives and look under Jaster Mereele, everything you need to follow in my footsteps will be where the clues lead you. Good luck, my son.

Boba looked down at the other items in the package. Some credits, a small blaster, and a key. Surely the key had a door, but where was the door. Maybe at the end of the clues. But did he want that?

His father had been a bounty hunter and it had gotten him killed. Did he want the same fate? There were many things he could do with his life, did he want the one now being forced upon him?

He could be great, he could get his revenge, but, as he looked at himself now, all he saw was a scared little boy. Weak and afraid of the future. Could he ever become the strong, distinguished bounty hunter his father wa-had been?

He thought of the revenge and decided it was all worth it if only for that. 

But the other thing that bothered him was how would he do it? He would have to teach himself everything. All alone. His father should have been here to watch who he was becoming. But he wasn't.

*Time Skip-17 yr. old Boba*_  
_

Maybe redemption has stories to tell  
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell  
Where can you run to escape from yourself?  
Where you gonna go?  
Where you gonna go?  
Salvation is here   


Boba landed back on Geonosis. His quest for revenge would end here. The maid on the passenger ship had told him Windu had come. Why he would return was a mystery to the young Fett. But here he was. He had earlier sent a message to the Jedi Master. He would meet him in the arena, at sundown. A classic meeting. There was time before sundown, but Boba could wait.

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Boba waited in the shadows as Mace Windu entered the arena. 

"Hello?" he called out into the shadows. He could definitely sense another presence.

The Mandalorian Armor clad figure stepped out of the shadows and looked at the man at the other end of the arena. He walked towards him. When he was only a few steps away, he posed his question. "Remember?"

"Yes, I remember you. And your father."

Boba nodded and looked at him. The years had worn on him, but his change was not as drastic as that that had consumed him. The flare that kept him going was the thought that his father's murderer was still out there. He was finally meeting him. 

"One of us won't leave, but I will," said Boba. He removed his helmet and let it fall to the ground. For a moment he saw the silver helmet rolling along the dust, then that specter was gone. 

"I had no other choice," said Mace. Boba could smell the fear pouring off him. 

"There always other choices."

"He would have killed me."

"So instead you left a child alone in the galaxy?"

"I HAD NO CHOICE! Don't you think I regret that I had to?"

"No." then Boba fired a shot with the small blaster that had been in the package. It had become accustomed to his hand and was his favorite weapon. His last link. The key had been used to get his armor, the credits for food and passage. 

Mace deflected the shot with his...purple...light saber. 

Then began the duel. Boba kept him on the defensive. Always. Then a shot snuck under his guard, not a kill shot, but just as effective. The red bolt hit his hand and the saber fell from his grasp. Then the young bounty hunter was there to pick it up. 

But Mace wasn't going to lay down and die. He threw Boba back into one of the crumbling pillars using the force. Boba was immediately glad he hadn't brought the jetpack. If he had, he might not have survived. Amazingly both weapons were still in his hands. He fired a shot to Mace's knees and picked himself off the ground. He walked over to where the Jedi Master was lying on the ground. He ignited the light saber and held it to his throat.

"Boba, I'm sorry. I....I had to!"

His pleas fell on deaf ears. The fear was clear in his eyes as he looked over at him. Then Mace sent a stake to his heart. 

"Is this what your father wanted for you? A quest of vengeance?"

"I SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAD TO! HE SHOULD BE HERE!" Boba could feel the tears threatening to break the dams he had built against them. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HIM!"

"I had no choice," repeated Mace, hoping that with his rage, he might break and run. The opposite happened.

Boba's face hardened into a mask of hate. "There is always a choice. This is mine." He swept the blade across and watched as the dead eyes stared at him from Mace's now separated head. 

Then he ran. He didn't know where he was going, just that it was away. As he ran, he felt the last of the emotion draining from him. That rage, grief, pain. All of it left, leaving him more like a machine. He stopped running. He wasn't bothered by the lack of emotion, he was finally saved from its tyrannical grasp on his life. Then he walked back to the arena, giving the body no more than a casual glance, and picked up his helmet. A sense of completeness was all he felt. More machine than man, but it didn't bother him. Machines couldn't be hurt.

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So, whatcha think? I don't know, it was just a thought while listening to some music. but I'm proud of it. One problem though, I'm dying from lack of humor. Must write insane stupidity soon.......Review please. Let me know how this serious thing works.....


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